Latest market data

Stock search

A company's
culture describes how things get done. But it's not
really about perks such as free lunches, ping-pong tables and
Take Your Dog to Work Day. CEOs and other leaders can and should
manage their companies to shape the culture they want.

Here are 10 policies and programs that I have found effective in
promoting a high-performance culture:

Writing recently in
the Guardian , Jeremy Paxman said, “An open-plan office
is a way of telling you that you don’t matter.” I wouldn’t go
that far, but I do believe that private offices make a
difference, especially for knowledge workers who need to feel
valued and empowered to do their best work. It also helps with
recruiting.

Any meeting that doesn’t cover sensitive subjects such as
pay and personnel issues should be open to everyone in the
company. Employees can learn a lot from attending meetings with
executives and members of other departments. Secrecy and a lack
of transparency amount to a recipe for mediocrity.

Along these lines, treating the company’s financial information
like a state secret is no way to run a business. Providing
transparency about how the business is faring lets employees feel
like trusted members of the team and have as much certainty as
possible about the company’s future prospects. Also, if employees
don’t know the score, they don’t know how to improve it.

Employees not only need to know how the business is performing
but also where it's headed. All employees should understand the
goals of the company and how their individual jobs support them.
This is essential for employee engagement. Also, by asking for
regular feedback about how employees are tracking toward meeting
their goals, leadership can get a good idea of the organization’s
progress.

CEOs are isolated at the top, often receiving only positive
information about the company. That's why they should set up a
way for employees to provide anonymous feedback. This empowers
employees and makes the CEO more informed about potential issues.

Employees need to feel some autonomy at work. One policy I
instituted was to give my new employees $250 to decorate their
offices. This small gesture allowed them to create their own
unique work environment. Combined with policies such as flexible
work hours and unlimited vacation (within reason), employees
begin to feel some control over how they engage at work.

Starting a new job is stressful. Engaging these employees can
decrease their uncertainty and help them more rapidly feel part
of the organization, which might decrease turnover. New employees
at my company meet with members of the executive team during
their first few weeks of work. This helps them understand
the purpose and strategy of each department at a high level and
quickly build connections across the organization. It also lets
each executive know each employee’s role and value.

Fundamentally, people aren’t motivated by pay, but they
can be demotivated if they feel that they or others in the
organization are paid unfairly. For this reason, I base salary
decisions on objective data, not subjective opinions. Unlike
what happens at many companies where raises are tied to yearly
performance reviews, I decoupled pay from the review process.
I tie starting pay and regular raises to third-party data
showing the value each person has in the market, making
compensation conversations much less contentious.

No one -- not even the CEO and the executive team -- should
receive special treatment. Perks such as executive wings, eating
areas and parking spots should have gone the way of the dodo long
ago. Employees notice when they are separated into the haves and
have nots, and this is detrimental to camaraderie.

For everyone in a company, from the CEO to the entry-level
employee, continuous learning is essential to growing and
adapting to dynamic market conditions. Encourage employees to
constantly improve their skills and market knowledge. Support
employees who want to go back to school, attend training sessions
or expand their market knowledge. This can provide tremendous
long-term value to a company.